From “Cabaret” and “A Star is Born” through to “The Lion King” and “Les Misérables,” a mesmerizing array of musical movies have won at the Golden Globe Awards. For close to a century, audiences have been captivated by song-filled stories created by musically-enthused filmmakers – and the 2024 lineup from the genre offers a number of cinematic surprises.

This year’s eclectic list of musical movie releases includes a Disney animation, “Moana 2,” and a DC Comics sequel with Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker: Folie À Deux.” There is “Wicked,” a blockbusting behemoth that serves as an eye-popping prequel to “The Wizard Of Oz,” as well as a cartel-centered operatic crime comedy, “Emilia Pérez.” There’s also “Piece By Piece,” a Pharrell Williams biopic told through the medium of a LEGO animation. The list goes on and on.

The tumultuous life story of chart-topping British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams is the subject of another musical biopic released in 2024, albeit with a bit of a twist. For “Better Man,” the famed U.K. musician is portrayed by a CGI chimpanzee. Yes, it’s the true story of the Take That pop star with a proverbial “performing monkey” in the lead role.

If you’re a fan of Robbie Williams, you might be pleased to know that not all of his facial features are hidden on the big screen. “They are my eyes on the monkey,” chuckles the singer, speaking to goldenglobes.com via Zoom from Switzerland. “You know, that’s the magic of cinema. They mapped my face as part of the process. You go into a cage with 150 cameras and you’re asked to pull 120 different facial expressions. It’s incredible.”

Why a CGI chimpanzee? “Oh, I just love eccentricity,” enthuses Williams. “I love the surreal, so it made complete sense to me when [‘Better Man’ writer-director-producer] Michael Gracey pitched the idea. I don’t think we’d have had as many people talking about the film had we not had the monkey in it. It’s unusual, and that’s exactly why I love it.”

Over the years, a select number of jukebox musical biopics, including Elton John’s “Rocketman” and Freddie Mercury’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” have been criticized for sugarcoating the truth or glossing over some of the finer biographic details of a story. With “Better Man,” Williams is adamant that the R-rated narrative is very true-to-life.

“It’s been pointed out to me that it’s very unusual to be so willing to divulge so much about my problematic personality,” the 50-year-old admits during our candid Zoom conversation. “I only realize it’s unusual when people say, ‘Hey, that’s unusual.’ And I go, ‘Is it? Okay.’ Where the other biopics have had to be sanitized because their people fear for their intellectual property, I lean into being problematic. I’m okay about showing you my demons. I’m okay with showing you exactly what they look like. Where authenticity is concerned, my story and my film works. It may not have happened in that order, but that’s certainly how it felt.”

Many of the musical movie contenders for the upcoming 82nd Golden Globe Awards feature original songs. For “Moana 2,”Auli’i Cravalho belts out “Beyond.” For “Emilia Pérez,” Selena Gomez sings the intoxicating “Mi Camino,” while Zoe Saldaña rocks out with “El Mal.” For “Better Man,” Williams spent months trying to create a meaningful new track for the movie’s closing credits.

“I’d sent a few songs to Michael Gracey over the months and years before the film came out,” reveals the singer. “He would always say to me, ‘No, that’s not it. No, not that one.’ Then I remembered a story about ‘Lose Yourself’ and ‘8 Mile.’ Eminem sent the song to the director of the movie, who told him, ‘It’s not good enough.’ But it ended up being in the movie.”

Williams pauses for thought and accidentally nudges his New Kids On The Block baseball cap into frame. He smiles before concluding: “With everything that I was sending over to Michael, I kept thinking, ‘No, he’s got this wrong. What does he know? Stick to making a film and I’ll do the music.’ But then I saw the film and I realized completely what was needed. At the end of the film, you just need a hug. That’s when I set about creating a song that was a massive hug for the audience, along with [co-songwriters] Sacha Skarbek and Freddy Wexler. ‘Forbidden Road’ is the result.”

Will an all-new musical win in the Best Movie – Musical Or Comedy category at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards? And who will walk home with the Golden Globe for original song? Find out when the glittering ceremony airs live on CBS on Sunday, January 5, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET